1. Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to generating an ultrasound image of an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus applies an ultrasonic signal from the surface of an object, for example, a human body, to a target site inside the object, and non-invasively acquires tomograms of soft tissues or images regarding blood flow using information of reflected ultrasonic signals, i.e., ultrasonic echo signals. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus displays images in real time and may be used for heart, abdomen, urinary, and obstetric and gynecologic diagnosis.
Related art ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses mostly provide information of cross-sections of an object through two-dimensional (2D) images using a one dimensional (1D) transducer array and acquire three-dimensional (3D) volume information of the object while shifting the 1D transducer array with hands of a user, i.e., free-hand scan, or mechanically, i.e., mechanical scan.
However, performance of such a 3D image acquisition method through free-hand scan or mechanical scan of the 1D transducer array is restrictive in terms of an image generation speed, i.e., temporal resolution or spatial resolution, and, thus, interest in 3D image acquisition techniques using a 2D transducer array has increased.
In order to use 3D imaging, which may be achieved using the 2D transducer array, improvement in resolution and scanning speed of the images (improvement in system performance) and a compact system size (prevention of increase in system complexity) should be achieved. However, existing systems are limited in satisfaction of all of these requirements.